If you’re not a fan of fighting video games, then you’re either a pansy or from another planet. Whether we’re talking about UFC Undisputed 2010, Tekken 6, Soul Calibur IV, or even Super Street Fighter IV, there’s nothing as entertaining as kicking some serious butt via your home video game console.

One of the most popular ways to celebrate a mutual love of fighting games is to hold a tournament. You and a few of your friends, all vying to become the champion of the circle – it doesn’t get any more entertaining.

Tournaments are held for bragging rights, for strictly fun or even for cold, hard cash. And one thing’s for sure: the latter is just as exciting as betting on slot games. Getting involved and winning the tournament circuit is extremely lucrative, and it could all start at our crib.

If you’re planning on hosting a fighting tournament, here are a few tips to make sure the fighting stays on the TV and doesn’t spill over into your living room.

First up, you need to set the format beforehand and have everyone agree to it. Do you want to run a single elimination, double elimination, or some other type of structure? Figure out how you want to run it and branch it off on paper.

Next up you have the characters. You might have three friends fighting over who gets to control Rampage Jackson or Heihachi. Solve this by picking out one character for every person playing beforehand. If you’re planning on dueling with UFC or boxing characters, then make sure they’re in the same weight class. If you have eight people entering, pick out the eight best (or most even) characters and put them in a hat. It’s the luck of the draw. Who fights where can also lead to some arguments and really damage the tournament. Again, go with the draw for this.

Setting things up like an internet casino, where the lottery structure determines characters and places, will ensure nobody feels mistreated. After the structure, you’re going to need a few ground rules. Don’t get carried away here like you’re Castro. Just lay it out. No cheating, no interfering with another’s game, no bogus move to shut the console off if you’re losing. Keep it simple.

Once you cover the basics, everything should run smoothly. Just take care to ensure you have enough room for the players to play comfortably and the spectators to get a good view of the action. Keep everything civil and simple and you should have no trouble hosting an entertaining tournament.

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UH-144 FALCON

UH-144 FALCON

The UH-144 is a versatile, transverse-rotor multipurpose utility helicopter. Two Falcons can transport a fully-equipped infantry squad faster than any previous system, and provide overwhelming support fire, in most weather conditions.

TYPE-25 SPIRIT

TYPE-25 SPIRIT

The Type-25 Troop Carrier (or T25 TC) is also known as the Spirit, although it is almost universally identified as troop carrier or dropship. It is capable of carrying up to 30 infantry and 2 vehicles. It is armed with one heavy plasma auto-cannon.

Type-31 Rifle Needle Rifle

Type-31 Rifle

The Type-31 Rifle (or T31 rifle) is more commonly identified as the Needle Rifle. It fires unconventional projectiles that are very long and very sharp—hence Needle rifle. The projectiles detonate several seconds after coming to rest in soft tissue.

Type-25 Pistol AKA Plasma Pistol

Type-25 Pistol

The Type 25 Pistol (or T25 DEP) is more commonly identified as the Plasma Pistol. This small directed energy weapon has two modes of fire: semi-automatic direct and semi-guided AOE. The secondary AOE mode drastically reduces battery life.

SRS-99 AKA Sniper Rifle

SRS-99

The SRS99 (more formally Special Applications Rifle, Caliber 14.5 mm, SRS99) is a gas-operated rifle firing 14.5×114mm ammunition. The SRS first entered service with the Army in 2460, because of its modularity and ongoing manufacturer support the SRS99 was adopted by all branches in 2521.

MA-37 AKA Assault Rifle

MA-37

The MA37 (more formally Individual Combat Weapon System, Caliber 7.62 mm, MA37) is an air-cooled, gas-operated rifle firing 7.62×51mm ammunition. It is magazine-fed and is capable of fully automatic fire. The MA37 (MA5 for Marines and Navy) first entered service with the UNSC in 2437, it has remained the primary service rifle of all branches of the UNSC ever since.

DMR AKA Designated Marksman Rifle

DMR

The DMR (more formally the Designated Marksman Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M392) is an air-cooled, gas-operated rifle firing 7.62×51mm ammunition.

Although it saw more widespread use throughout all branches of the UNSC prior to 2548, it has since been superseded in use by the BR55 in all branches but the Army.

Armor Abilities

Armor has multi-use augmentations that can alter any engagement on the fly. Armor Abilities aren’t discarded or deployed onto the battlefield, but rather activated for short durations and subsequently recharged during a short cool down phase. Below, you’ll find the short list of armor abilities that have already been declassified.

* Sprint – Feel the need? Engage this Ability for a burst of speed that’s great for quickly covering ground or escaping sticky situations.

* Active Camouflage – Go off the grid by engaging Active Camo. Your enemies can’t kill what they cannot see. Stalk, seek, and destroy.

* Jet Pack – Fly like a bird. Target your opponents. Laugh maniacally.

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The next playable slice, called Running Man, from the critically acclaimed indie first person shooter Interstellar Marines is now available on InterstellarMarines.com for everybody to play

Zero Point Software invites gamers from all over the world to get immersed even deeper into the story, world and gameplay of the Interstellar Marines games, currently in development. In Running Man players take part of a select group of Special Forces secretly being trained as first line of defense against other sentient species.

Deep inside an underground military facility and under the supervision of Drill-Sergeant Barry, players will engage in a series of grueling training programs and fight high-tech Combat Training Robots specially designed for fast paced close quarter combat training. “In our previous slice, Bullseye, players were confined to a small military shooting range filled with simple cardboard targets. This time players will experience complete freedom of movement and they will need to move fast to survive the waves of charging Training Robots.

At the same time Running Man sets a series of events in motion, that eventually will lead to the revelation of the back story of the Interstellar Marines trilogy”, says Kim Haar Jørgensen, Game Director, Zero Point Software.

Play Interstellar Marines: Running Man here: http://www.interstellarmarines.com/game/running-man/

For access to the full experience or further information feel free to contact me. Interstellar Marines: Running Man – Release trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-running-interstellar-marines/701453

About Interstellar Marines: Interstellar Marines is a trilogy of games, an AAA first person shooter experienced in a realistic and unpredictable future where first contact with another sentient species is slowly becoming reality. The games balances the military realism and cooperative action from tactical shooters with the character development and narrative depth of Role Playing Games.

What really sets Interstellar Marines apart from other AAA titles is the players involvement in the creation. With Interstellar Marines the players isn’t just playing the games – They have the ability to improve the games as well. By joining the community on InterstellarMarines.com players can provide feedback on everything from level design to difficulty level, or maybe even get a speaking role in the games.

“We scan the forums for feedback every day and the games is already filled with small tweaks and changes based on the feedback from the community. Our weapon reload is a small example of this; the entire animation was remade because a community member pointed out that holding the finger on the trigger during reloads was unrealistic”, says Kim Haar Jørgensen.

About AAA Indie: Interstellar Marines is developed and published independently without the financial support and restrictions from any of the big publishers. During development a number of playable slices will be released online for everybody to try in a limited free version and only available on InterstellarMarines.com.

Players can completely unlock a given slice by purchasing a $5 Support Medal. Players signing up for the $25 Frontline account get complete access to all current and future slices as well as a digital copy of the first game in the trilogy, when it is released on PC and Mac.

Finally players can go full circle and purchase the limited edition $39 Spearhead account (only 75.000 available) which besides all the Frontliner benefits secures members with all three games in the trilogy at a very attractive price.

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In the fifteen hours it took me to clear Red Dead Redemption’s expansive core campaign, the thing I found myself most surprised by was how consistently likable rough-and-tumble protagonist John Marston remained throughout. He’s a stark contrast to Red Harlow, the star of 2004’s Red Dead Revolver; that character was built in the mold of Clint Eastwood’s “Man With No Name” and rarely spouted an unnecessary syllable. Marston, on the other hand, shares more in common with Unforgiven’s tragic hero Bill Munney: he’s a family man who is unceremoniously thrust back into a past life he can’t leave behind. He’s one of a dying breed of sunset riders who are facing extinction and are doomed to go out in a hail of gunfire.

From the start of Redemption’s bullet-riddled narrative, Marston operates from the familiar gray moral zone native to all of Rockstar’s leading men. Forced to confront his past in order to save his future, Marston’s sweeping transition from bounty hunter to unlikely freedom fighter to, finally, grizzled relic in an endangered era makes for a captivating arc, and paints Marston as one of the more sympathetic antiheroes in recent memory. Marston’s confrontation with an America that doesn’t want nor need him brings to mind GTA IV’s Niko Bellic, but his desire to find a peaceful place for himself and his family makes Redemption’s yarn something familiar yet utterly unique. It kept me earnestly interested in the jaded cowboy’s quest for restitution long past the main story’s conclusion.

In typical Rockstar fashion, Redemption plays host to a motley crew of liars, outlaws, substance abusers, and would-be revolutionaries; each is a riff on classic Spaghetti Western tropes, but they’re well-rounded and interesting enough that they never feel contrived. Portrayed with cinematic precision, these saints and sinners breathe life into Redemption’s vast landscapes; they’re also excellent counterpoints to Marston’s lone wolf persona, serving as memorable foils and friends in the process. And even though Marston’s salvation frequently takes a backseat to the varied quandaries of these frontiersmen (and women), they’re engaging enough to make players want to see their stories through to their just end.

As diverse and memorable as Redemption’s cast is, however, it’s the game’s expansive open-world of New Austin that lifts the experience well above the latest crop of open-world sandboxes; it’s also the main reason why the “Grand Theft Cowpoke” comparisons are both irrelevant and inadequate. Swapping cars for tumbleweeds and skyscrapers for open ranges, Redemption’s frontier landscape effortlessly evolves from dusty plain to painted desert and back again, with all manner of rustlers, bandits, ranchers, and a menagerie of region-specific fauna breathing life into the land. I often passed on the option to quick-travel from camp or ride in a stagecoach taxi in favor of heading out on a trusty steed, as the genuine thrill of clopping through Redemption’s rich scenery offers up as much promise as the youthful portrait of America that it paints; from ad hoc hunting sessions to playing judge, jury, and oftentimes executioner to any number of randomly generated disputes, there is a lot to discover and do in the wild frontier. Helping matters is the fact that Red Dead Redemption is, by all measures, Rockstar’s best looking game to date; the game’s masterfully crafted and stunningly detailed environments are beautiful to look at, and thankfully don’t share Liberty City’s brown, muddy “realism” filter.

But what makes the treks across Redemption’s tumultuous terrain work so well is undoubtedly the game’s equine element. Horseback riding is expertly implemented, and brings an indisputable facet of authenticity to the title on par with so many silver screen serials and dime-store novels. It’s from atop horseback that players will spend the majority of Marston’s journey, and the satisfaction that comes with mastering a mount is well worth the strife that might come with first climbing into the saddle. Shooting while riding, for instance, or heading up your first cattle drive may take some practice, but the genuine thrill that these iconic activities offer make them both worthwhile and satisfying when they finally “click”.

Of course, because it is a Rockstar title, Redemption doesn’t completely stray from the company formula. While it strives to create its own legend, it still adheres to the open-world mission structure pioneered by Grand Theft Auto, with assorted letter-based waypoints serving as launch pads for any variety of optional and plot-progressing missions. These run the gamut from Rockstar staples like racing and playing cabby to more period-specific assignments like horse-breaking, saloon shootouts, or riding a posse on any number of ambushes. Gamers who had qualms with GTA’s reliance on secondary fetch missions will likely take issue with Marston’s recurring role of errand boy, but the sheer quality and unpredictable nature of the tasks at hand — not to mention the much needed inclusion of inter-mission checkpoints — helps make these side missions a rewarding diversion.

Redemption’s post-mission Honor system is also worth noting: a reputation scheme that, unlike Grand Theft Auto, which inherently assumed you’d be playing as a sociopath, allows Marston the opportunity to be recognized by society as either a respected law-abiding peacemaker or dreaded saint of killers. I chose the virtuous path for my initial playthrough, and used my reputation as an upstanding lawman to claim hefty store discounts and, on more than one occasion, get away with murder. The nature in which New Austin’s denizens interact with you as your percentage statistics tick higher only serves to compliment the in-depth world Rockstar has created, and while an occasional, “Well, if it isn’t the John Marston!” won’t single-handedly make Redemption a Game of the Year contender, it’s a nice feature, and one of several that makes Red Dead Redemption’s love letter to the Wild West well worth revisiting.

One of Redemption’s most notable aspects, and likely one of my favorite features, is the game’s superb audio design. Every boot step, quick draw, hoof clop, and gun shot drips with Wild Western authenticity, capturing the iconic essence of the lone outlaw in an unforgiving environment to a whip-cracking tee. Redemption’s soundtrack, skillfully composed by musicians Bill Elm and Woody Jackson, admirably channels Ennio Morricone’s work on Segio Leone’s classic Dollars trilogy, with finely assembled whistles, harmonicas, and trumpets subtly commanding the game’s onscreen action.

I was able to spend a considerable amount of time online with Redemption’s beefy multiplayer component as well, and I can safely say that the potential for plenty of Moonshine-swilling nights of deathmatch debauchery is most certainly there. Redemption’s online modes offers up a few variations on traditional multiplayer staples, with Shootout and Gang Shootout subbing for Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, and the gold-fueled Grab the Bag, Gold Rush, and Hold Your Own acting as alternatives to Capture the Flag. From the initial Mexican Standoff to the last lingering gunshot, Redemption’s multiplayer works remarkably well and only serves to complement and build on the title’s exquisite single player campaign.

However, I don’t feel that I can give a solid thumbs-up or down to Redemption’s most ambitious multiplayer feature; the Free Roam “lobbies”, which offer up the entire open-world of New Austin to sixteen players for posse-forming, gang-conquering action, is a brilliant concept, but it’s really up to the players to make the most of it. Still, the competitive multiplayer modes offer a lot of meat for gamers to feast on, and it’s actually Rockstar’s finest effort to open their worlds to online exploration to date.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Red Dead Redemption is such a terrific title. Rockstar is one of the most consistently creative and talented developers in the industry, and their commitment to excellence shows in each and every product. Although this is said of almost every single new Rockstar product, Red Dead Redemption is arguably their best effort to date, if only because it distills all of the lessons they’ve learned from their previous titles into an engaging, expansive, and enthralling world. But the best part of Rockstar’s open-world oater is its honest and open appreciation for the iconic Western genre; Its Wild West setting is memorable and stays true to established genre lore while still managing to add its own wrinkles and twists. It’s one of the most appealing game worlds I’ve experienced in my recent memory, and it holds enough thrills to keep you playing from the very first bullet to long after the ride off into the sunset.

PROS: Enormous, engaging world; expertly captures the look and feel of the Wild West; likable protagonist in John Marston, who boasts an interesting, worthwhile narrative
CONS: Errand missions can get a bit tiring; occasional pop-in.

Courtesy of GamePro.com

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Red Dead Redemption

Ubisoft has sent out Patch 1.02 for the PC version of Splinter Cell: Conviction. The patch tackles accidental disconnections, graphic glitches, and more.

The patch will also enable PC owners to download the free DLC that Xbox 360 owners have enjoyed for the past few weeks. Today Ubisoft sent out another freebie, the 3E Elite Suit, for both platforms. The rest of the patch notes are below

• Added DLC support
• Fixed many disconnection and divergences issues in coop modes.
• Added Multi-GPU support for SLI/Crossfire (remaining issues on ATI side)
• Added ATI Eyefinity support (we are waiting on a validation by AMD for theEyefinity Ready official stamp)
• Some configuration specific divergences fixes, crashs et minor bugs
• Graphic glitches when running in low visual quality:
• Improve performances and some flickering issues.
• Low-end video card optimizations.
• Fixed Microsoft Wireless X360 controller not being detected properly with some drivers.
• Fixed interaction buttons overlapping in certain resolutions/aspect ratios.
• GTX400 Nvidia video card support (removed the error message)
• Various minor fixes.

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Splinter Cell Conviction List Of Weapons

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

The company confirmed PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions UFC Undisputed 2010 will require players to entire a one-time use code to access the game’s multiplayer modes and features.

The code is available with all new copies of the game. If the game is bought used and the code has already been redeemed, then a $5 access fee is required.

“THQ is delivering a truly unmatched online gaming experience for fans of UFC and across all fighting games in general,” the company said in a statement issued to IGN. “The main enhancement of UFC Undisputed 2010’s premium online content is the new “Fight Camp Mode” in which players can assemble ranks of up to 40 people and train together.

“This is a significant value-add to the game as players can continually improve their skills by training with their friends and bringing teams of MMA specialists together.”

UFC Undisputed 2010 is set for release next week. THQ said it will have additional details at a later date.

One-time use access codes continue to be a growing trend in the industry.

Electronic Arts plans to soon implement the “Online Pass,” a code that must be entered before players are granted access to multiplayer modes in most of the publisher’s upcoming sports titles.

Ubisoft has also stated it plans to combat used sales with a similar method.

GameStop’s UFC Undisputed 2010 “Ultimate Fighter Life” promotion series concludes with “The Ultimate Fight Party” sweepstakes now through May 26. Customers are asked to log on to www.gamestop.com/ufc2010 and click the “Win Prizes” link to enter for a chance to win. The Ultimate Fight Party prize pack has everything you need to host some rowdy UFC viewing parties for your family and friends for a year, including a 50-inch Samsung Plasma 3-D HDTV, 20 sets of UFC T-Shirts, posters, and training gloves. The winner will also receive an exclusive Roy Nelson Ultimate Fighter Pack.

In addition, customers still have time to enter GameStop’s UFC Undisputed 2010 “Train a Fighter” contest through May 26. Four winners will receive prize packages valued at more than $3,500 that include four-days, three-nights all-expense paid trips to Las Vegas to attend The Ultimate Fighter 11 finale at The Palms and more. Visit www.GameStop.com/UFC2010 and click the “Train the Fighter” link for more details.

For additional information on how to enter the contest, visit www.GameStop.com/UFC2010.

About the Game:
UFC Undisputed 2010 is being hailed as the only mixed martial arts (MMA) video game that delivers the action, intensity and prestige that are hallmarks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It offers advanced and powerful virtual MMA action, intelligent and intuitive combat features, increased fighter customization, robust career progression, challenging new gameplay modes and additional online content. In addition, players can pick from more than 100 of the best UFC fighters in the world designed to mimic the skills and fighting styles that make them unique in the world of MMA.

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Luke Timmons, Engineering Lead

Marcus Lento, Creative Director

David Aldridge, Senior Engineer

Joe Tung, Executive Producer

Jon Cable, Engineer

The Halo: Reach beta was perhaps the most anticipated console beta in history. In it’s first three days it’s already doing rather well for itself. The statistics which follow are for the first 24 hours.

So far, 1,170,112 people have played the beta.

Together, they have played 14,205,611 matches.

In these matches have been 157,972,986 kills.

And all of this has happened in the 936,864,266 seconds spent playing the game. For those of us who don’t count the seconds of our lives, that’s 15.6 million minutes, 260,000 hours, 10,843 days, or a little under 30 years.

That’s right. In one day, the Halo: Reach beta has been played for 30 years.

And the beta ends on 19th May.

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UFC Undisputed 2010 Demo Headaches By Zak Woods

Nine times out of ten, launching a new product is a gut-wrenching experience and UFC Undisputed 2010 is no exception. Will people buy it? Do we have enough staff on hand for the launch? What if something breaks? I mean, when they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked! Of course, if Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.

Lame attempts at Jurassic Park references aside, last Thursday THQ launched the demo of the highly anticipated, UFC Undisputed 2010. While it didn’t go all velicoraptor on the fans, it did go a little Denis Nedry as THQ didn’t place the demo on XboxLive or the Playstation online equivalent (sorry Sony users, I am an Xbox 360 owner) for immediate downloaded. Rather, consumers who wanted to play the demo had to register at community.ufcundisputed.com.

It doesn’t take a digital expert to see where the fatal flaw in this plan was. Too many fans rushed the website attempting to register all at once. The result was a flooded site, slow access to the demo and a few upset customers. Basically, it was the digital version of 6:00am on Black Friday and Wal Mart was selling DVD players for $50.

This isn’t the first instance of a videogame publisher being woefully unprepared for the internet prowess and dedication of MMA fans. Electronic Arts attempted to stream a fight between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs live on EA’s website earlier this year. The influx of traffic caused massive problems as the site’s capacity was quickly overwhelmed. Plus, for fans who did mangage to get through they had to register with EA Sports in order to view the stream. The whole result was two parts frustration and one indignation.  A tough cocktail for any company to swallow.

Note: Thank god the good folks at Bungie were smart enough not to do this for the upcoming Halo: Reach beta. They were smart enough to make you buy a $60 game to get access to that demo…

THQ felt some of that same anger in a few chat rooms and forums as people were grumpy about what they saw as a data mine operation. However, the goal of community.ufcundisputed.com is not to be a user database for Apple big brother. In March THQ officials explained their visions for the community site as a place where fans organize online tournaments, fighter camps (aka guilds) while releasing other online goodies to the hardcore community. Certainly an admirable goal for THQ to pursue, no?

But the producers are also facing criticisms from the fighters themselves. Take Jon “Bones” Jones for example. The hot prospect, with the elbows of doom recently voiced his displeasure in his Undisputed fighter ranking through Twitter, saying, “@UFC_Undisputed I hear my character has low ratings. If so, I’m stopping by with my gloves on and giving 12 to 6 elbows to every1 n sight ”

UFC Project Manager, Neven Dravinski, responded to Jones’ criticisms through email, saying “Ha! I don’t know where he got his info, we work with Joe Silva and other UFC execs to create all the stats in the game, so he might have to rearrange the travel plans for his 12 to 6 elbow delivery .”

Tongue and cheek teasing aside, Dravinski went on to confirm that Jones’ signature style of kicking ass and taking names will be in the game.

Neven also described the Undisputed update system: “We’re [THQ] also going to be able to adjust stats (via online updates) after fights, including a day one update so as long as Jon and the rest of the roster fighters keep performing it’s going to be reflected in the game.”

That community site mentioned before? It will have the fighters’ stats.

See Jon? The site registration will probably be worth it in the long run. Now go register…

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VideoGamesDaily: Hi Patrick, good to chat. How many Splinter Cell games have you worked on?

Patrick Redding: This is my first Splinter Cell. Before this I was working on the Far Cry series, I was narrative designer on Far Cry 2.

VGD: How would you characterise the evolution of co-op in Splinter Cell? Which features have gone out of fashion, and which have retained their appeal?

Redding: I see this co-op as fitting within a trend or a tendency that I think is emerging – actually it emerged a long time ago, but I think it’s just moved into the mainstream – which is that before, co-op was a relatively hardcore gaming paradigm for people.

It tended to be the thing that people who were PC tactical shooter gamers were really obsessing over, or that sports gamers were really obsessing over, and I think now what we have is a generational shift, where the core of the mass market are people who both want to have a deep story, memorable moments and all of the drama and meaning and investment that we typically have always had in single player games, and they also want to be able to share it with their friends.

They don’t want it to be a solitary experience, they want to be able either to sit on the couch with their girlfriend and play, or be on Xbox Live with their best friends and play, and feel that something is unfolding according to some design intention, and they’re getting a chance to experience that but it doesn’t have to be that alone.

That was what motivated us to move in the direction we did. I think when we looked at what single player was trying to do with Conviction, it’s a more internal story, it’s less about the outside world going to hell in a hand basket and there’s one man who can go in and save the day, and it’s a lot more about Sam’s personal hell, and what he’s doing to get out of it, or go deeper into it depending on how you look at it, and how situations are being manipulated by outside forces who have their own agendas, and how he reacts to that.

And I think that informs a lot of the game design choices we made, it informs the whole dynamic of this slightly more active mode of stealth, and the offensive qualities that come out of that: being able to strike at enemies with impunity, that sort of thing. And I think when we looked at co-op we thought, ‘we have to do the same thing’: there has to be a story there for the reasons I gave, but there has to be an extension of what the Splinter Cell universe is now.

Because it’s clearly something different, it’s not just the ‘political crisis implicating eight different countries’ of the week, there’s something a lot more intimate, personal and traumatic going on there for the characters and we needed to work out a way to apply that in a scenario that is really a lot more like traditional Splinter Cell in some ways – your handler is whispering in your ear, telling you what your rules of engagement are, and you have to go on this mission where you’re allowed to do some things with gadgets. Well, that’s not going to work, it’s got to be something more than that.

And so that’s where we got these ideas – let’s make it a prequel, let’s tie it in directly with single player, and let’s have the events of co-op have some meaning for what’s going on in single player, but also this idea, almost antithetical to the notion of co-op, of having two player characters who actually don’t like each other or trust each other. This idea that one is an American – that’s inevitable, it’s Splinter Cell – but one isn’t, he’s a Russian working for the rival agency, and it’s only because of some political expediency that their bosses have ordered them to work together.

So these are guys who are used to working alone, and now not only are they forced to take on a partner but it’s not like Murtaugh and Riggs in Lethal Weapon – these guys don’t know if they can trust each other to watch each others back, they don’t know if there’s some hidden agenda, they just don’t know.

And what I like about that is that their relationship is evolving at the same time that the players’ ability to play together is evolving. So at the same time that Archer and Kestrel are going from solo operatives to learning how to trust each other, work together, be tactical together and achieve more challenging objectives, the players are also learning how to master these skills which maybe they’ve started to learn in single player, but now they’re extending those skills and combining them in different ways that they haven’t seen in single player because there’s a team mate.

So I think it works because you hear the relationship evolve, you hear the dialogue between them shift, from one mission to the next – even the systemic dialogue is different, where they’re less cold and impersonal to each other, then they move into a more sarcastic mode, then they tease each other a little bit, and by the end they kind of respect and like each other.

Redding: You’re not the only one!

VGD: Did the decision to remove that have anything to do with the new focus on story, on the partnership of Archer and Kestrel?

Redding: The best way to look at it, even aside from story, is that the fantasy here is that you have these extremely elite, highly trained, incredibly effective and ruthless agents that are kind of let off the leash, whether you’re talking about Sam or Archer and Kestrel. Because the stakes are so high that they’re kind of willing to let them move in a much more aggressive and ultimately violent way.

The concern is if we wanted that same feeling in multiplayer, and then said ‘OK, it’s going to be adversarial, it’s going to be asymmetrical and you’re going to have Mercs who are basically equivalent to the dudes you’re murdering in large numbers in single player, and then you’ve got the spies… I don’t see that going any way other than badly.

And I don’t mean to say that there isn’t a possibility of exploring that, right now perhaps I lack the imagination to see it immediately, but I think beyond that we made a decision that this is something new, we haven’t tried it this way before, and rather than choosing the riskiest possible implementation of it, where we just say ‘great, Spies versus Mercs again, but you can Mark & Execute your opponent, you can fool them with Last Known Position’ – that would have been interesting but unbelievably difficult to pull off, compared to what we tried to do.

And I think it was a good move, a smart move on our part, to play to our strengths, especially on the first implementation of this, to try to come up with a multiplayer mode that really works well with those gameplay pillars, those gameplay mechanics of M&E, LKP and the rest, and then once we see how that works then there’s all sorts of interesting possibilities, then we can really assess and say ‘OK, now, assuming we wanted to go down that avenue what would it look like?’

But I think if we tried to go out the gates with it, I just think right now those same players that were mad it hadn’t been included would be cursing our names for trying to make it work and failing!

VGD: So perhaps we’ll see it in DLC form?

Redding: Well, DLC is a huge can of worms that I’m not going to try and launch into now. We’re going to introduce some interesting stuff with DLC, but I think that in the bigger picture we’re always going to be looking to find ways to expand on the ideas in co-op and multiplayer, because I really feel like that’s becoming our core group, our core audience. Yes, there will still be people who want to play a single player story mode, but I just think more and more it’s shifting towards people wanting to have the experience with their friends as well.

VGD: Patrick, thanks for your thoughts.

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Splinter Cell Conviction Cheats, Hints, Tips and Secrets

Splinter Cell Conviction List Of Weapons

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

OK so you never signed up for the UFC Undisputed 2010 early demo over at the UFC Community page and you really want to play the demo to see if it lives up to the hype. Well here is your chance as the demo has gone live for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

UFC Undisputed 2010 demo allows players to fight in Exhibition Mode or to challenge friends offline with the Tournament Mode and features four Light Heavyweight Fighters named;

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida

Rashad “Sugar” Evans

and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

About UFC Undisputed 2010
Scheduled for release on May 25, 2010, UFC Undisputed 2010 is the only mixed martial arts (MMA) videogame this year that will deliver the action, intensity and prestige of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®.  Players will navigate an unparalleled roster of more than 100 prolific UFC fighters, each fully rendered to convey a photorealistic appearance. Enhanced combat will bring greater authenticity and more customization, as players manage Octagon control with new strikes, submissions, transitions, cage positions and more.

UFC Undisputed 2010 will encourage online camaraderie like never before, giving players the ability to form fight camps and leagues, train like real-life UFC fighters and go online to compete against other camps in the virtual UFC world. In addition to an expanded Career mode, UFC Undisputed 2010 will also introduce three new gameplay modes including Title Mode, Title Defense Mode and Tournament Mode. So you wanna be a fighter? This is how. For more information about the UFC Undisputed videogame franchise, please visit www.ufcundisputed.com and www.thq.com.

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More video game reviews:

UFC Undisputed 2009 Review

UFC Undisputed 2010 Review

You find some gear in the field, such as snatching up frag grenades off of a crate. But spent gear is primarily refreshed at weapons stash crates placed in the field, green boxes that you access not only to pick up fresh gear, but also to change you weapons and upgrade them.

Here’s a list of weapons for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction with tips on the best use of using them in the game.

Frag Grenade

Loud, messy and deadly. Frag grenades are blunt instruments. They get the job done but they announce your arrival like an angel’s trumpet. However, any enemy caught in the blast radius of a frag grenade is killed instantly, which makes it great for crowd control. To throw a frag grenade, select it from your gear menu and then aim just like when you’re shooting a gun. You throw your frag grenade in the direction of your target cursor, but distance and architecture matter quite a bit. Grenades can be banked off walls or thrown through doorways to surprise enemies that either have not seen you or have retreated. Frag grenades roll along the ground until they explode, but if you throw them over a great distance, they may blow up before reaching your target. Caution: Frags makes a noisew when they hit the ground. If you toss one next to an enemy, he has a second to react and move away.

Flashbang

Flashbangs are excellent escape tools. These grenades let off a bright flash of light and noise that causes anybody in the immediate area to hide their eyes and recoil. If enemies are next to a popping flashbang, they are temporarily stunned. However, starting off an attack with a flashbang is advisable only if you plan on finishing it soon. After enemies recover from the effects of a flashbang, they start looking around for who thew it.

So, instead of using one at the beginning of an attack, use it midway to distract enemies if you are ever discovered. If you are not only spotted but being fired upon, dropping a flashbang while running gives you a few seconds to seek cover and plot a new course. When the effects of the flashbang subside, your enemies will be focused on your Last Known Position (LKP), not you new position. TIP: Execute marked enemies when everybody is stunned by a flashbang. When the survivors come to their senses, they will have no idea what happened and will not look for you in the immediate area.

EPM Grenade/Device

Electo-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) technology factors heavily into the terrorist plot you are attempting to stop. EMPs disable anything that runs on electricity, such as a microwave oven or a computer. You have two EMP devices to use in order to maintain your invisibility: EPM grenades and a portable EMP generator. NOTE: You do not obtain an EMP generator until you meet up with Vic in the fifth mission.

Caution: Your generator has a limited number of pulses that can be refreshed at a weapons stash.

Use EMPs to disable lights and create extra shadows and dark areas. A pulse will extinguish every light in a room, including flashlights, allowing you to move with almost universal impunity. (Enemies can still see a few feet in front of their faces.) But do not linger when moving through the darkness because it is temporary. The lights will come on after a few seconds and it is possible to be caught right out in the open – total disaster.

There are several differences between the EMP grenades and the portable generator. EMP grenades produce smaller effects that last longer than those created by the generator. The generator, on the other hand, affects a much wider area, but for a shorter period of time. This makes the grenade useful when you want to control a room while assaulting it, but makes the generator a much more useful tools when you just need an opening to get out of a tight situation. Caution: Toward the end of your assignment, enemies begin setting up chemical lights that cannot be snuffed out with EMP tech.

Remote Mine

Throw remote mines against a surface and they stick, making them perfect trap materials. Plus, you control when they blow up. As soon as you plant a remote mine, the gear button turns into a detonator. Watch the site of the remote mine and set bit off when an enemy walks near it.

When you throw a remote mine, the detonator is automatically selected. However, you can still swap back to the remote mines in your gadget inventory and place some more. You can use this to lay some more complex traps, and make sure you take out a lot of enemies in one fell swoop. TIP: Remote mines also make great distraction. Stick one to a wall and then blow it up to make enemies investigate. While they move toward the remote mine, you can either flank them or slip beyond them without being noticed.

Sticky Camera

The sticky camera is similar to the snake cam you use to peek under doors, but this camera has multiple uses beyond surveillance. When you throw it on a surface and access the feed, you can not only look around and mark targets, but the camera also creates a small noise. This noise attracts the attention of nearby enemies, which lures them closer to the camera. Once they are within range, activate a small explosive in the camera to take out nearby enemies.

Sonar Goggles

Third Echlon scientist Charles Fryman gives you a pair of sonar goggles that allows you to not only see in the dark, but also peer through walls. When you engage the goggles, a pulse draws a diagram of your suroundings. Humans show up as bright, white outlines, making them very easy to spot. There is no camouflage from sonar goggles, so don’t worry about somebody hiding from you. You will always see their outline. Environmental hazards you can destroy, such as fuel drums, also appear in white on the sonar goggles.

The farther the pulse travels though, the weaker the signal gets and outlines will get fainter and objects spotted closer to you will start to fade. Don’t worry, another pulse refreshes your view and updates the position of your attackers. You can hunt while looking through the goggles, but it is hard to pull off accurate shots while aiming at human-shaped outlines. It is far better to establish the location of the targets and then remove the goggles so you can line up precise shots. Rapid movement makes the signal to noise ratio very high, so you will get the clearest picture of the environment when you are not moving. Also, you can mark enemies while in this view – it’s super useful to plan your attacks using the goggles! Caution: You are not the only person with sonar goggles. You will face down some highly trained agents toward the end o your assignment that also have access to the tech. When you see red lenses on your enemy’s face, know that you are never truly hidden.

The sonar goggles also reveal laser tripwires. You will encounter security systems that use laser tripwires in tandem with mounted machine guns that automatically target a broken beam and then unload. Once the gun acquires a target, it does not stop until the clip is empty. You better find cover. So, if you ever spot a mounted gun hanging from the ceiling, activate the goggles and look for “invisible” laser tripwires. Slowly move through the field of lasers by ducking under beams or finding ways over floor lasers via jumping over objects or shimmying along a ledge.

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Splinter Cell Conviction Cheats, Hints, Tips and Secrets

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

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Interview With Mafia 2 Martin Zavrel, Development Manager

Mafia II E3 2009 Big City Interview

Mafia 2 Cars-What’s Your Favorite?

Obviously the guys at 2K Games are super talented and the same guys that worked on the first game are also working on the second game but being able to work with the same production team at 2K games you can see the quality and continuity of the production and cinematic and stuff like that.

Of course another thing that they’ve been able to work on is creating a much bigger and expansive sandbox for the game set to take place on. The game takes place on the Empire Bay that is over twice as big as the original city and there’s so much more to do than in the original city and that’s one of the other big factors.

And thirdly is the combat in the game. It’s more like a third-person shooter than an open world game. Once you go to these big environments kind of like in Liberty City in the game Grand Theft Auto, there’s so much more interaction within the city with the environment and the characters within the city.

There´s so many more details than you would expect in maybe other games like Gears of War and to have that in a sandbox is something really unique.

So the story of Mafia 2 is it follows this guy named Vito Scaletta who’s an Italian-American immigrant who is born into a life of poverty and ultimately that’s what sort of drags him into this life of organized crime. Vito has just returned from the war at the start of the game and he gets easily led astray by his buddy Joe and that’s how they sort of embark on this sort of life. Joe Barbaro is Vito’s childhood friend. Henry Tomasino is already a made man and he joins and helps Vito and Joe to survive in the life of organized crime.

Empire City is a city based on San Francisco and New York City during the 1940’s and 50’s that serves as the setting for Mafia 2 and features a completely open-ended map of 10 square miles, including surrounding countryside. The city also features sights such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. Some of the key locations in Empire City are:

• Safe Houses – places where the player can store gear and use as a home
• Restaurants – buy food like hamburgers, sandwiches and drinks to restore health
• Gym – learn new combos and fighting styles
• Empire Automobile Shop – replace engines; cars can be sprayed; change license plates and interiors can be refitted
• Car wash – a place where dirty cars can be washed
• Gas stations – refill your cars when they run out of fuel
• Clothing stores – where you can buy new outfits

The game is set in 1945 and it finishes somewhere in the mid 1950’s. The early part of the game is set against a winter backdrop and it’s a sort of bleak time in his life, he’s just come back from the war and he’s poor and he has nothing going on for him and winter kind of plays into that, but as Vito starts earning his way up the ranks and he becomes a made man things start looking up for him. The later part of the game in the 50’s is set oin this sort of summer city that’s really bright and there’s lots of stuff going on. The developers were inspired by movies like Rebel Without A Cause and the birth of rock and roll and other cool stuff that the 50’s is all about can all be found in Empire Bay.

One cool thing about Vito is he’s not a commander that orders people around. He is the lead character in the game so naturally he takes the lead role and any wing man that is with him provides the supporting role. They will intelligently use cover and fire and shoot people on their own but, they won’t on their own, go off and try and complete the mission. So the way that the structure of the game is that a mission is day in Vito’s life. So he wakes up in the morning and plays out a mission for a few hours and then maybe doesn’t do anything for a few weeks. The game time jumps that and explains maybe why he’s had to lay low. For example, maybe he’s burned down a whiskey still and needs to hide out for while. It doesn’t make sense for him to go out and murder someone else right away. He’s not a mass murderer, he’s a Mafia guy. Forgedaboudit!

The games mission’s require you to do a massive amount of driving in it and Empire Bay is a huge place and to get from one side of the city to other you’re going to have to drive there. Out running the police and car chases and things like that. I really like that your wing men will fire out the windows in a car chase if you want them to and pedestrians will react differently to you and your crew. Or example, if you’re hanging out in your local neighborhood, people will know you and call you by your first name and won’t mess with you. People respect you because you’re a made man in the Mafia.

Mafia 2 is available for Xbox 360, PlaySaytion 3 and PC

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Interview With Mafia 2 Martin Zavrel, Development Manager

Mafia 2 Cars-What’s Your Favorite?

Mafia List Of Weapons

Alpha Protocol developers gave an interview with IGN that reveals a lot of details of the game that’s scheduled for release on June 1st, 2010. Below is the full interview.

SEGA and Obsidian give us loads of new details on the spy game.

by Steve Butts

IGNPC: We’re glad to be getting a fresh look at this game. Tell us about what we were seeing in the teaser trailer and what elements you think it highlights.

Tim Ernst: This teaser trailer really only touches on one major element of Alpha Protocl: choice. We want you to choose how Thorton takes on combat situations (Do you go in guns blazing? Do you sneak around? Do you use gadgets, traps and technology?), and we want you to know you can choose how you interact with the people around you. Do you want to be motivated by loyalty, lust, greed? It is exciting for us to create a game that supports all these choices, but our fun comes in creating the other major element: consequences.

IGNPC: What’s the basic plot of the game? What’s the global crisis and how does the player get drawn into it?

Tim Ernst: Our RPG covers more story than even an entire season of 24. We made a point that all missions push the story forward. Needless to say, we only want to talk about the first few hours of plot. Thorton’s story in Alpha Protocol starts as the US is reacting to a passenger airliner being shot down with some high tech weapons. He’s introduced to many characters (his team) and begins the process of figuring out what motivates each of them. Working with them, you start your investigation in the Middle East. You can take the information you are given at face value, if you wish, but you can also do some research before jumping into action. From your first mission onward, Thorton has to decide how to deal with any given situation and that will affect how his current mission and the overall story will play out.

IGNPC: We’re all used to elves and wizards. What advantages does the spy setting offer for an RPG? Why hasn’t anyone ever tried to make an espionage RPG before?

Tim Ernst: We are excited to bring the RPG genre into the spy setting because it offers so many new concepts. Deus Ex, Mass Effect, and Fallout have elements of being a spy, so it’s not completely unfamiliar. Still, it is a challenge, because moving to a modern day spy setting does not allow us to use super advanced technology or magic. We had to take a new perspective of basic systems, like the class system. You can choose to be more of a soldier, or perhaps a tech specialist, or a field agent: names that we’ve given to certain archetypes that gamers will feel comfortable with. Or you can decide to craft a completely customized character right from the start. Either way, you’re going to be able to decide how Michael grows in his skills as he gains experience. It is a nice twist on picking if you are using magic or weapons; you pick your guns, gadgets and stealth abilities.

IGNPC: As far as action-oriented spies, James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne loom large in the public’s imagination. What are your own inspirations and touchstones for this type of story? Also, are you worried that your hero’s name doesn’t start with a J?

Tim Ernst: All the “JB’s” have a depth of character to them. They experience intense action, they have to make tough decisions, and they have relationships of both a professional and personal nature. The same will go for Thorton, but you are not limited to the JB’s choices. We want you to create a new spy. Ultimately, if this were the Star Wars universe, the “JB’s” would be light Jedi. Thorton is not an evil man but he doesn’t have to use the friendly solution either.

IGNPC: What types of skills will the player be able to use to overcome the obstacles in the game? Are you looking to provide options for players to switch freely between combat, stealth, and charm as the situation warrants? Can you give us an example of a problem that can be solved in a variety of ways?

Matthew Rorie: We want the player to specialize in the different skills and choose how they solve a specific situation. You cannot max out all of Thorton’s skills. During any level, you can go in through the front door with your guns blazing and combat armor equipped. If you do, you’d also want to increase your toughness for more hit points.

Alternatively, you could find alternative paths to sneak around the situation and take people out silently. An emphasis on stealth skills will make this easier for you. If you want to play stealthy, you will want to level up your stealth to increase your evasion passive skill, and use your silenced pistol with chain shot, so you can slow down time and take out up to 3 enemies without anyone noticing. You could also have leveled up your martial arts instead of your pistol as your hand to hand combat is the most silent (and you will have some more abilities to take those enemies out).

Or, of course, you could try to use a bit of both skill sets, or try to use the many gadgets in the game to make your course through the level that much easier – you can stun enemies, or use noisemakers to distract them, or incendiary grenades to take out a group of them, etc. We really want to put an emphasis on freedom for the player while he or she attempts to tackle a challenge.

IGNPC: Yeah, no spy game would be complete without an arsenal of cool gadgets and technologies. What kinds of tricks will the players have up their sleeves?

Matthew Rorie: Gadgets and technologies make up the tools you use in your missions. Inside of your hi-tech safehouse, you will have to buy, sell, and customize gadgets and items. Most of our numerous gun models will have mods and upgrades, such as silencers, different sights, special ammunition, barrel modifications, and more. The different armor suits also have some technology to add.

We have a wide range of gadgets to explore, but we haven’t revealed many of them yet; you will have items like med kits and grenades, of course, but there’ll also be some more specialized devices. My favorite is the incendiary grenades: they may not be very subtle, but they’re undeniably effective.

IGNPC: Developers of shooter-based RPGs like Deus Ex and Fallout have always had to strike a balance between character stats and player performance. Where do you draw the line between the player’s abilities and their characters skills?

Matthew Rorie: Obviously this is a tricky balance to strike, perhaps especially in an action RPG – you have to ensure that the skills a player invests in are meaningful to the gameplay experience, but at the same time you have to avoid the randomness of dice rolls and probabilities that can sometimes frustrate even experienced RPG players. It’s important to keep in mind that while Michael Thorton is an inexperienced agent at the start of the game, he’s been very well-trained in the weapons and technology that he’s using. So if you line up a critical hit with your pistol on an enemy, you’re not suddenly going to miss due to a dice roll.

On the other hand, Mike will gain more experience with his weapons as he travels the world. Adding skill points to weapons will allow you to deal more damage and aim more quickly, and will also unlock new special abilities for the weapon (such as Chainshot for the pistol, which was mentioned previously). Without any points in martial arts, you’ll still be able to hit dudes in the face, but if you level it up, you’ll gain some impressive maneuvers that will let you drop fools that much more quickly. This helps to ensure that the player feels empowered by their choices without completely eliminating their ability to use skills they haven’t invested in quite as heavily.

IGNPC: What about the variability in terms of narrative or motivation? Are the players locked into a scripted moral path that hits the same story elements? How far can players diverge in terms of their overall agenda in the story? How much do the player’s actions affect the progress of the story and the state of the world?

Tim Ernst: Great western RPGs have consisted of moments where the narrative changes based on the motivation of the characters. We want to place these moments throughout the game and not at one point. Generally speaking, there is usually a good and evil path for the player to take, which follow very similar stories. We are using a more complex variant on that system, based on relationships. Your relationships can change based on how you have come across characters in the past. What missions you choose to do first, as well as the choices you make, will change the story and state of the world. We can also have more than two characters or factions at odds with one another, which allows for levels where it is possibly to fight on either side or fight both sides at once, depending on your relationships. Whether you decide to befriend a character or piss them off, you’re going to find that that decision will have a tangible impact on the game, whether you discover this impact 10 minutes or a few hours down the line.

IGNPC: Spy stories always rely on lots of crisp dialogue and dense plots. What’s your approach to story telling here? Can you tell us much about the player’s conversations with other characters in the game?

Tim Ernst: Conversation is central to Alpha Protocol. Our new dialogue system features a cinematic presentation that really lets you feel like a fly on the wall during the conversations. We have some amazing actors and we added a game element: tension. The conversations are real-time, so you only have a certain amount of time to make your choice of response. This creates tension and keeps the dialogs crisp and edgy. You have to make tough choices on the spot. For example, in one dialogue, you have to choose to arrest an illegal arms dealer, extort him for money, or shoot him where he stands. And that is just the first mission!

We also want to make sure all dialogue paths have unique and interesting consequences. There are no wrong choices in a conversation. You always open up interesting options, even if you don’t notice them immediately.

The dense plot is more familiar to us since it is a characteristic of both spy stories and RPGs. Spy stories and RPGs both use a basic conspiracy story. There is always more information revealed along the way, which changes how you look at the world. Whether it’s the discovery of a dark wizard controlling the king, or the unmasking of a double agent, it’s a similar mechanic that becomes only more interesting when there are no pure right or wrong sides.

IGNPC: You’ve had tons of experience with the engines from the BioWare games. Why did you decide to go with the Unreal 3 engine for this project? What does it allow you to do that you couldn’t accomplish with Aurora?

Tim Ernst: The Unreal Engine 3 has amazing tools for us to create a new RPG system on top of a great action engine. To begin with, it is very powerful and has an amazing toolset that we have been adding to since 2006. The Aurora engine was built for more d20 games, like Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights. We wanted to solve some gameplay concerns we had by starting with a base like that of Gears of War instead of Neverwinter Nights to create something more emotional moment-to-moment.

IGNPC: You’ve also opted to go for an over-the-shoulder perspective for the game. What’s behind that decision and how does it affect the player’s experience?

Matthew Rorie: It was not a tough decision, since Obsidian has a long history of using third-person perspectives in their games. The industry as a whole has also been shifting more and more to the third-person viewpoint, as well, probably because we want to control the game’s character, not our “self” inside of the game.

The more we see Thorton on screen, the more we associate with him. Our customization of Thorton portrays an attitude as well. We see Thorton in actions and conversations. It’s a better interactive experience, and more cinematic as well.

IGNPC: Finally, we’re glad to be hearing some new details on the game. Where is the game at in terms of development? What are you currently working on right now and what’s next?

Tim Ernst: We just finished our level creation and we are working to finalize the script and game systems. We just hit alpha, and we are starting to polish the whole experience. Making an RPG is tough, since we have more game systems than any other genre. We will keep creating some new tools and gadgets along the way, continue balancing and polishing the levels, and finally work on pacing. We have done a lot, but we still have work ahead. We hope you stay tuned in the near future as we start releasing some gameplay footage!

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UBISOFT® UNCLOAKS DETAILS FOR TOM CLANCY™’S GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER™

Tom Clancy’s EndWar Cheats and Hints Guide

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier First Look

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction

Alpha Protocol First Look

Tom Clancy’s EndWar

“At ease soldier! That was a great job you did on your last mission and the top brass expects a full report on his desk by 07:00 tomorrow morning. That was a dangerous mission and you were the man for the job. Oh and soldier, we got another mission for you and this one’s even more dangerous. First Sargent will go over the attack plan tonight after chow.”

Is there someting you know about playing video games that a noobie should know? Can you train someone to fight better as a team on Battlefield Bad Company 2 or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in multi-player mode? Do you have a favorite fighting video game that you’re really good at playing and can offer tips, cheats, hints or secrets to playing the game better? If so, I would like to invite you to write an article or make a video detailing your favorite fighting video game’s tips, cheats, hints and secrets and I’ll post it on my blog so others can get the training they need to stay alive on the battlefield. Of course you’ll get full credit for the article or video and a link back to your site or Twitter account if you have one. If you need help putting an article or video together I’ll help you.

“Training is what separates the men from the boys out on the battlefield and soldier, you’ve shown that you can think fast under fire and your troops need leaders like you to lead them to victory. The top brass has seen fit to promote you to Sargent. Congratulations Sargent! I expect that report by 07:00 and the troops ready for PT at 07:15. Dismissed!”

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Each year video games seem to get more realistic graphically and I can only imagine what video games of the future may look like as far as realism. With 3D video gaming being introduced in 2010, I’m sure we can expect more realism, but what about in the more distant future. I can foresee a day when video games as well as television will be played holographically in three dimensions with a holographic projector as the console, projecting three dimensional images 360 degrees around us that are so stunningly real that we can hardly tell the difference between real or projected images giving us the illusion od being completely immersed in the scenery of the game. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Imagine if you could play Street Fighter 4 not as a character onscreen, but as the actual character in the game. Pixar Inc., the innovator in digital animation with popular releases like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and The Midnight Christmas Express, uses digital animation techniques that blend animation with traditional film making in order to give their characters very real, human-like movements and nuances. The actor playing a digital character wears a skin-tight, leotard-like suit that is covered in hundreds of tiny, digital sensors that convert movements by the actor into similar movements of the digital character giving the character very human-like gestures. The sensor in a Wii controller uses this same technology but the sensor suit translates all your body movements and facial expressions into digital equivalents and onto a digital character. I believe the next evolution in fighting video games is wearing a fighting suit full of these sensors that will allow the player to control all the moves that a character makes in a video game. The character would actually mimic your every move.

Now what would really be cool is if a game was developed, using that kind of technology, that would allow you to superimpose your bosses face onto an opponent in a game like UFC Undisputed 2010 so you can slam your boss to the mat and pin him down for a win. Kicking your bosses butt is not something you get to do everyday and I’m sure it would be a very popular game. What if the next time your spouse is getting on your nerves you could both just don some sensor suits and have a WWF Wrestlemania 2000 wrestling match in the middle of a huge auditorium full of spectators? Talk about letting off some steam. Sort of like a digital pillow fight. It might be embarassing to get beat up by your girlfriend but making up is the fun part anyways.

Someday I would like to see video games and holograms come together for a fully, three-dimensional experience. Being immersed completely from every angle in a 360 degree digital world while being able to move inside that world in a digital form would be the ultimate gaming experience for any player. I think it could be done and we have most of the technology already. Combining motion-sensing

and holographic technology with green-screen and 3D technics, could someone create a digital environment so compelingly realistic that the player could have the sensation of actually being inside of that environment? I think it’s completely plausible and probable. Kind of like vitual reality on steroids. Some would say this is all a fantasy but every technology started as a crazy idea.

What about taking your video game to the gym? Wii video games are the first step in a continueing trend I believe. Playing Wii games with it’s motion sensing controler gets people off their butts making them swing a tennis racket for example when they play a game like Wii Tennis. Can you picture a gym in the future where instead of running on an old boring treadmill, you can burn calories skiing down a mountain in digital ski resorts from around the world with each downhill run depicting an exact replica of the real slope at that resort. They could call it Black Diamond Skwii Runs. Or if jogging really is your thing then at least you could jog in a digital world of mountains or beautiful vistas, or out run some cops or bad guys through a maze of city streets while dodging alien sharks with friggin’ lazar beams shooting from their heads. Even Dr. Evil couldn’t get sharks with lazar beams on their heads.

All this dreaming of futuristic video games makes me wonder what other gamers dream up if they could have any game imaginable without limits. So let me just ask, if you could indulge yourself in the ultimate fighting video game, what would you want that game to be? Please tell us in the comments of this post every detail your imagination can squeeze out of your limitless imagination. What character would you want to be? What setting would you want to play in? What fighting game would give you that unforgetable rush if you could play any character? Let your mind flow and tell us your dream fighting video game.

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I’m new to that site but the reviews about it are very good and the games are some of the best. You can play on Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 and the games available to compete in are:

Sports Video Game Challenges
» Madden NFL 08
» Madden NFL 09
» Madden NFL 10
» FIFA 08
» FIFA 09
» FIFA 10
» NCAA Football 09
» NCAA Football 10
» NBA Live 09
» NBA Live 10
» NBA 2K9
» Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
» Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09
» NHL 09
» NHL 10
» UEFA Euro 08
» MLB: The Show 08
» MLB: The Show 09

Music Video Game Competitions

» MLB 2K9     » Guitar Hero: World Tour
» Rock Band 2
» DJ Hero

First-Person Shooter Game Battles
» Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
» Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2
» Call of Duty World at War
» Halo 3

Third-Person Shooter Games
» SOCOM     » UFC 2009

Fighting Game Tournaments

» Smash Brothers Brawl
» Street Fighter II
» Street Fighter IV
» Tekken 2

Racing Video Game Competitions
» Burnout Paradise
» Mario Kart
» Forza Motorsport 3

Members can also play for free if you can find another member that wants to play for free too, however, the purpose of BringIt is to allow gamers to take it to the next level and compete for real cash! If you live in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Tennessee, or Vermont, you may not play video games for cash at this time. The site is 100% free to sign up and there are no monthly charges and no subscriptions. Your credit card or payment method is only used to deposit funds into your BringIt account.

Anyone already competing please tell us what you think of BringIt.com and post your username here so we can hook up and compete together. Thanks

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EVO Announces Lineup For EVO 2010

UFC Undisputed 2010 Review

UFC Undisputed 2009 Review

Human nature sometimes gets people to act in violent ways and some people are more inclined to express themselves that way than others. Playing a video game that allows people to express their violent tendencies in a game is a safe way to get your aggression out without hurting yourself or others.  If anything, it’s a healthy release of stress and tension. What Do You Think About Video Game Violence?

Lawmakers should be spending their time fighting real crimes and less time worrying about you or me playing a video game. It’s a game folks. I can’t believe that there’s actually a bill going to Congress right now trying to ban some fighting video games on the basis that it causes kids to be violent. Football is violent. So is boxing. Are we passing any bills to stop that? Perhaps the lawmakers see this as a way to get big video game companies to settle out of court for a huge fee or a way for politicians to get a bunch of over-concerned parents to vote for them. Who knows?

One thing for sure though, playing a fighting video game to get your daily adrenaline rush is not going away anytime soon. I understand parents wanting to control the kinds of games their kids play and agree 100% with the games rating system that helps parents buy age appropriate games for their children, but to ban them all together is going a bit too far. What are your thoughts on this issue? Please tell us in the comments to this post.

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What Do You Think About Video Game Violence?

The 1st Amendment, Video Games, and the Supreme Court

Join the Fight Against H.R. 231

Here´s the official Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction link.

The adventures of Sam Fisher continue in the fifth entry of the stealth-based series. In this game, all of the rules have changed, as the storyline takes a dramatic turn that will reinvent the Splinter Cell franchise forever. Fisher can no longer rely on his trusted bag of tools and iconic goggles.An investigation into his daughter’s death unwittingly leads former agent Sam Fisher to discover he’s been betrayed by his prior agency, the Third Echelon. Now a renegade, Fisher finds himself in a race against time to thwart a deadly terrorist plot that threatens millions.

Uniting revolutionary gameplay enhancements with a high-octane, no-holds-barred storyline, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction arms you to the teeth with all the high-tech weaponry and lethal skills of an elite operative and invites you to enter a dangerous world where justice means making your own rules.

What It Is: Sam Fisher is making his triumphant return. He may be a bit greyer in the hair, but he hasn’t lost a step. In fact, he’s faster than ever in this most action-packed Splinter Cell game yet.

Why It’s Hot: Three words: Mark and execute. Though Fisher is now more agile and active, he still relies on stealth to get him through difficult stretches in one piece. His latest trick allows you to mark off targets from the shadows and then hit a single button to rip off incredible executions.

Weapons

	5.56mm SC-20K AR The bull pup configuration of this assault rifle makes it light and compact without sacrificing firepower (5.56×45mm ss109). Its modular configuration allows it to be customized to fit any mission profile. Equipped with a flash/sound suppresser and combined with a multipurpose launcher, the 5.56mm SC-20K ARbecomes the obvious choice of weaponry for Sam when infiltrating enemy territory. Note: Because of the more overt nature of the 5.56mm SC-20K AR, it will only be acquired after a few missions-when the situation requires it… Sniper Mode: Sniper mode is only available with the 5.56mm SC-20K AR
Ring Airfoil Projectile A high-impact, zero penetration projectile designed to incapacitate rather than kill. Note: The Ring Airfoil is much more effective if it hits the head.
	Gas Grenade Standard CS (0-chlorobenzalmalononitrile) Gas canister grenade can incapacitate groups of enemies. Exposure to CS Gas causes violent respiratory seizure. Prolonged exposure causes unconsciousness.
	5.72mm SC Pistol The 5.72mm SC Pistol tactical model with single-action trigger and a 20-round magazine comes equipped with a silencer/flash suppressor. Its 5.72mm SC Pistol rounds offer good penetration against modern body armor, while keeping the weapons’ weight, dimensions, and recoil at reasonable levels.
	Wall Mine The Wall Mine is a motion-sensitive explosive device that can be attached to almost any surface.
“Liked this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!” Tom Clancy’s EndWar Cheats and Hints Guide Splinter Cell Conviction Cheats, Hints, Tips and Secrets Ghost Recon: Future Soldier First Look Splinter Cell Conviction List Of Weapons Tom Clancy’s EndWar
	Frag grenade The 14-oz M67 fragmentation grenade consists of a 2.5″ steel sphere surrounding 6.5 ounces of high explosive. Upon detonation, the steel sphere shatters, emitting a burst of high velocity shrapnel.“Liked this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!”

Some of the new features in Mafia 2 are:

Readable newspapers to learn about recent news between 1945 and the early ’50s.

A completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game.

Cars will play a central role, based on models of the time, and changing with the era.

Laws, including traffic, must be obeyed, but the police interaction will be toned down compared to the original.

Although fictional, Empire City will feature familiar sights such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building.

The player can get “very high” in the city, adding a possible vertical element.

The player will be able to buy a home where they can store gear and use as a home base.

Restaurants will be accessible to buy food and drinks to increase health.

Stolen cars can now be upgraded at the “Empire Automobile Shop”; engines can be replaced, cars can be resprayed, and interior can be refitted, to name a few.

Things such as sink faucets, switches, bottles, and chairs will all be interactive, as well as radios that the player can turn on to hear a few licensed period tunes.

Cars can suffer panel damage, get dirty and explode. They can also run out of fuel.

NPCs will smoke, read newspapers, and wait for buses, while homeless people search through nearby garbage bins.

Interacting with objects in the environment involves two action buttons- a standard and a “violent” option- used in context-sensitive situations.

A map will be included as in the original, to simplify navigation.

The checkpoint system has been completely overhauled.

Gyms will be accessible to unlock new combos and fighting styles.

As seen in screen shots, Vito will be able to hail taxi cabs and they will take him wherever he wants.

Trunks can open, and weapons and bodies may be stashed there.

The player will own their own car that can even be customized with a personal license plate.

I have some game time in on this game already prior to it’s release and I just love the cars in Mafia 2.

Here´s some pics of my favorites. What are you favorite cars in Mafia 2?  Tell us in the comments.

1941 Dodge Custom Sedan

1953 Pontiac Chieftain 'Potomac Indian'

Here´s a complete list of cars in Mafia from A to Z.  If you see any I have missed please add them to the comments along with your favorite cars in the Mafia  game. When I see all the cars in Mafia 2 I will add another post showing them.

Mafia car list:

Bolt Ace Coupe
Bolt Ace Fordor
Bolt Ace Pickup
Bolt Ace Runabout
Bolt Ace Touring
Bolt Ace Tudor
Bolt Ambulance
Bolt Firetruck
Bolt Hearse
Bolt Model B Cabriolet
Bolt Model B Coupe
Bolt Model B Delivery
Bolt Model B Fordor
Bolt Model B Pickup
Bolt Model B Roadster
Bolt Model B Tudor
Bolt Covered Truck
Bolt Flatbed Truck
Bolt Delivery Truck
Bolt V8 Coupe
Bolt V8 Fordor
Bolt V8 Roadster
Bolt V8 Touring
Bolt V8 Tudor
Bruno Speedster 851
Celeste Marque 500
Crusader Chromium Fordor
Crusader Chromium Tudor
Falconer
Falconer Gangster
Falconer Yellowcar
Guardian Terraplane Coupe
Guardian Terraplane Fordor
Guardian Terraplane Tudor
Lassiter V16 Appolyon
Lassiter V16 Charon
Lassiter V16 Fordor
Lassiter V16 Phaeton
Lassiter V16 Police
Lassiter V16 Roadster
Schubert Extra 6 Police Fordor
Schubert Extra 6 Police Tudor
Schubert Extra Six Fordor
Schubert Extra Six Tudor
Schubert Six
Schubert Six Police
Silver Fletcher
Thor 810 Phaeton FWD
Thor 810 Sedan FWD
Thor 812 Cabriolet FWD
Trautenberg Model J
Ulver Airstream Fordor
Ulver Airstream Tudor
Wright Coupe
Wright Fordor
Wright Coupe Gangster

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Interview With Mafia 2 Martin Zavrel, Development Manager

Mafia II E3 2009 Big City Interview

Mafia List Of Weapons